TOURIST EXPECTATIONS OF HOTEL SERVICES AND EMPLOYEES

Abstract

The increasing level of maturity of tourists has had the effect of multiple mutations in the structure of demand, with increasingly sophisticated tourist products being increasingly requested and tourists becoming increasingly demanding in terms of quality and authenticity of the offer. The intensification of competition between tourist service providers has made the issue of competitiveness to be put in different terms, the main influencing factors being quality, especially the quality-price ratio, renewal, diversification, innovation and customer orientation. Taking this into account, the issue of ensuring the quality of tourist services has become the primary priority, both at the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels, with more and more countries and tourist enterprises (mainly hotel chains) resorting to developing their own service and quality standards. The quality of tourist services offered by each provider is the result of the combination of two components: a quantitative one, predominantly material in nature, and a qualitative one, behavioral.

The quality of hotel services is very important in choosing an accommodation space. The accommodation service varies by creating conditions and comfort for the traveler's rest. Appreciation of service quality is a delicate issue, for most services the subjective dimensions of evaluation by customers predominate.

The most important component of quality is the behavior of the staff in hotel units, most often neglected, the company's personnel problems being limited only to hiring the appropriate number of employees, with good qualifications in the field, who know and apply the standards and work procedures. The effects of professional behavior are directly reflected on the quality of services, on the perception of their quality. Compared to the components of a material nature, the effects of professional behavior are unpredictable, difficult to reverse over time. They are directly related to the number, structure, level of training and motivational level of the staff.